People News: LRW Names Scholarship Honorees, IANA Announces Academic Competition Winner, Quandel Hires New VP

Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
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The League of Railway Women (LRW) has awarded its 2020 Connie Sumara Memorial Scholarship ($2,000) and the inaugural LRW Future of Railroading Scholarship ($1,000) to TrinityRail Operations Manager Megan Forbes and Jessica Labrecque, respectively. An undergraduate team fielded by Georgia Southern University won the Intermodal Association of North America’s (IANA) tenth Logistics and Supply Chain Academic Competition. Additionally, Chicago-based Quandel Consultants has named David M. Simon Vice President-Director of Wisconsin Operations.

The LRW memorial scholarship honors the memory of Connie Sumara, the former and longest-serving LRW President who helped found group in 1997. It supports women pursuing graduate or undergraduate degrees and seeking to further their careers in the rail industry. Forbes is pursuing an MBA at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

The aim of the LRW Future of Railroading Scholarship is to inspire and encourage a student pursuing a graduate or undergraduate degree, with an interest in supporting the rail industry. Labrecque, the first honoree, is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering at the University of Laval in Quebec City. She is also an intern for the Transportation and Railway Maintenance Department at the Iron Ore Company of Canada.

LRW is one of the five Coordinated Mechanical Associations supported by the Railway Supply Institute (RSI). For more LRW news, click here.

IANA’s annual competition was held virtually this year. Each team was tasked with responding to a case on import volume trends resulting from the U.S.-China trade war and the current global pandemic—from the perspective of a fictitious drayage company. It was the Georgia Southern University team’s second consecutive victory. Alecia Breen, Ana Ortiz-Contreras and David Hudgins represented the university.

The other competing undergraduate schools included Auburn University and the following IANA scholarship schools: the California State Maritime Academy, the College of Charleston, and the Universities of Maryland, North Florida, North Texas and Wisconsin at Superior. The competition supports each institution’s curriculum on intermodal transportation.

At rail and transit consultancy Quandel, Simon will handle business development and establish a Madison office, among other duties. He worked for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for 32 years, serving most recently as Director of Transit, Local Roads, Railroads and Harbors. Simon contributed broadly in engineering and public administration roles, leading in the areas of project management, engineering design, construction project management, agency coordination, policy and standards development, planning, budget and finance, contract management, and applied technology.

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